Mike White and his Deep Connections to Notre Dame

Mike White is currently in the middle of his first season as the Georgia Basketball head coach. Although his time has been brief, his impact has been noticeable. He has led a Bulldogs team that won just 6 games a year ago to 7 wins in just the first 10 games of this season. Although White and his team are off to an impressive start, he will be up against his most personal battle yet when his team faces Notre Dame this Sunday.

White grew up as a Notre Dame fan and even had aspirations to one-day play quarterback for the Fighting Irish. He would, unfortunately, realize his dream would not be a reality and eventually took his talents from the football field to the Basketball court. White would ultimately end up playing for the Ole Miss Rebels from 1995-1998 where he would score 2,734 points and over 200 rebounds in his 4 year career.

But White’s Irish ties go much deeper than just a childhood fandom. In fact, White has family ties to the university as well. White’s father Kevin was the Athletic Director for Notre Dame in the early 2000’s. His father served as athletic director for the Irish from 2000-2008 before stepping down to take over the same position for the Duke Blue Devils. While coach White’s family ties to his upcoming opponent certainly is interesting, his connection to the current Notre Dame coach may be the most interesting of them all.

Shortly after Kevin White was hired as athletic director, he was tasked with replacing basketball coach Matt Doherty. After a hectic search, Kevin chose former Delaware coach Mike Brey to be the next head coach for the Irish basketball team. To this day, Brey is still coaching for the Irish and has amassed over 472 wins. This Sunday, Brey will coach against the son of the man who hired him 22 years ago.

Despite Mike White’s deep history with Notre Dame. He has made it abundantly clear that his team will treat this such as any other game. Although, he did joke in his presser that this may be the first time his father Kevin cheers against Notre Dame.

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